EmpowerUs at the Træna Festival
Anette Møllersen Bjørnå and Maiken Bjørkan from Nordland Research Institute , as well as Åsta Halse and Vilde Johnsgård Nygaard from Kunnskapsparken Helgeland, represent EmpowerUs at the Træna Festival. Photo: Private
Far out to sea you will find the island community of Træna. There you will also find EmpowerUs, which is part of the legendary Træna Festival.
– We got hooked on the Træna Festival through the EmpowerUs project, says project manager Maiken Bjørkan, who has had more and more to do with Træna since 2022.
– For three years we have been conducting research with and on coastal communities with Træna as a so-called living coastal laboratory in Norway. During the Træna Festival, we spread knowledge and commitment about coastal communities, and talk about opportunities and challenges, she says.
Both Bjørkan and Nordland Research Institute colleague Anette Møllersen Bjørnå has taken the trip out into the ocean. They are joined by Vilde Johnsgård Nygaard and Åsta Halse from Kunnskapsparken Helgeland, who are also involved in EmpowerUs. Together with Træna Museum, they are making their mark on the festival program.
– We organize several activities in the backyard of the museum. We talk a lot to people and inform about the project, says Bjørkan.
– We pound stockfish and provide information about skrei and stockfish traditions. We also have a creative station where adults and children can write a “bottle message to the sea” that is hung on copies of the 9,000-year-old hook from Kirkehelleren. We have also contributed to the implementation of the Norwegian National Championship in stockfish throwing, she says.
EmpowerUs is also behind an innovative collaboration with the pole hunt , with stories from Husøya, Sanna, Selvær and Sandøy for each of the 26 poles. They are also distributing the activity booklet " Women who make waves ".
Photos from the festival:
(All photos: EmpowerUs)
View the album on Facebook
